Steering mechanism



K. M. WISE 1,787,711

STEERING MECHANISM Filed March 22, 1928 IN VEN TOR.

Patented Jan. 6, 1931 "j UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TION, or sou'rn BEND, INDIANA, A conronnrronor new JERSEY" STEERING MECHANISM 1 Application filed March 22, 1928. Serial no. 263,868.

of each semi-elliptic front spring is pivoted to the forward end of the vehicle frame side member and the rear end thereof is shackled tojthe frame rearwardly of the spring horn.

In these conventional constructions the end of the steering arm which moves the front wheels is positioned directly overthe" front axle and is connected by a rearwardly-extending'drag link to the steering gear lever. The axle moves upwardly and forwardly with the movement of the spring in an arc about the connection between the front ends of the spring and axle asan axis. This movement 'of the axle also causes the forward end of the drag link to move upwardly, but instead of 'moving'forwardly it moves rearwardly-because the drag link swings about'the connection withthe steering gear lever as an axis. This upward and rearward movement of the forwardend'ofthe drag link causes the steering armto move,with the result *thatthe vehicle is inadvertently steered to the right.

When a vehicle equipped in this manner with the conventional steering mechanism, is

operated over rough and uneven reads it has a tendency to be continuously steered to the right, which causes the vehicle to sway from side to side. This hinders the steering of the 7 vehicle and is of great inconvenience to the driver of the same. I Y

cipal object of this invention to provide a It is therefore; the prin- Another object is to provide a, motor vehicle with a front spring shackled at its forward end tothe frame spring horn and a V steering drag link pivoted at its rearward end to a portion of the steering mechanism positioned forwardly of the spring rear hanger whereby the arcsof movement of the drag link and axle are in the same general direction in order to limit the amou'ntof inadvertent steering of the vehicle.

These being among the'objects of the present invention the same consists of certain features of construction and'combinations of parts to be hereinafter. described with reference to'the accompanying drawing and then claimed, having the above and other objects 1nv1ew. In the accompanyingdrawingwhich illustrates a suitable embodiment of the present invention, I i

Figure 1 is a plan view of av portion of the forward end of the ymotor vehiclefchassis showing the same equipped with means for reducmg the amount of inadvertent steering.

Figure 2 1s a section'taken approximately KARL M. WISE, OF SOUTH INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO THE STUDEBAKER CORPORAL- on the line22 of Figure showing the steering means in detail.

Referring to the accompanying drawing in which like numerals' 'refer to like parts throughout the several views, the forward end of the vehicle frame 14 issupported on the front axle 10 by means ofa pair of semi- .elliptic springs 13 secured intermediate their endsto the axle 10 near the ends thereof.

These springs 13 have theirrear ends pivoted at 30 to frame hanger brackets 16 which are rigidly secured to the frame side rails 14L rearwardly of the axle '10, and have their forward ends pivoted. toshackle-links 15 which,' in turn, are pivoted to the extreme forward ends of the frame side railsl. The

shackle links 15 serve as toggles which allow theaxle 10 to swing in an are having a radius A about the'pivoted connection of the rear endsof the springs 13.

Conventional steering knuckles 11 o are hinged to the extreme ends of the axle-1O and 7 even though it has been described in its entirety. 7

Steering effort is applied to the wheels 12 by an arm 23 secured at one end to one ofthe steering knuckles 11.. The'other end of this arm 2 3,tcrminates in a ball end positioned directly over the longitudinalaxis of the axle 10. It is believed that steering effort has never been applied to the steering arm 23 inthe method which is about to be described, that is, by a method which takes into consideration the swinging movements, ofthe axle with the ultimate aim of substantially eliminating inadvertent, steering. of theve- K hicle wheels 12. g

.The steeringgear 17 like in all conventional constructions, is secured; to oneof the ,framesiderails 14 as shown inF-igure2 and the outwardly projecting shaft 18 thereof projects through the frame side rail 14: rearwardly ofthe spring rearhanger 16. A depending lever 21 is pivoted to the frame. side rail 14 forwardly. of the spring rear hanger l6 and is pivotally connected by a rod .--to a lever :19-which is rigidly secured to and -'I '0tated by thesteering gearshaft 1 8. The

lower end of the lever 21 is formed with a .ball-end which, when innormal position, is .substantially in the horizontal planeof the .pivoted rear endof thetspring .13. .Adrag link .23vconnects the lever 21 with the steer- .ingarm 23 ,andhas socket ends which receive the ball -ends of thesetwo members.

It'will be noted in Figure- 2 that whenthe axle .10 isswungthrough the are A by the Q irregulari ties inzthe road; over which :the, vethicleis driven that the forwardend ofthe ,dra-g link =22';also swings through an are 7 havingaradius M about theconnection .33

with .the'ball. end ofthe lever .21 as an axis. The arcs of movement of the axle 10.-and drag. link '22 .arefboth ,in ,the same general direction. .Thedistance betweenthearcs of movement oftheaxle 10 anddraglink 22 is lillustrated by the line XTbutthis distance is taken at a point quite remote from the height that the, axle 10 can possibly move; "The construction of the frame 114 and spring 13 limits the swinging movement of the axle 10 -so that it cannot move any higher than Qtll point designated by .Y. flt is to" be noted at this point Y that the two arcs A and M substantially coincide andxthe 'idistance that the vehicle willbe inadvertently steered to the right is negligible.

' If, however, the construction was similar to :the conventionalin which the spring 13 was fix edly pivoted to the front end of the frame 'member, 14 andthe rear of the drag link 2 2' was pivoted directly to the steering lever 19,,it can be readily understood that the arcs .of-movements'of the axle 10 and drag link 22 would be in opposite directions. In the conventional construction the arcs Pof movement start to divergefrom each other from the very beginning and by the time the axle 10 4 had reached the point Y during its swinging movementthe distance between the two arcs would be quite appreciable with the result that the vehicle would be steered to the right. I This steering of the vehicle would be intermittent because of the irregularities of theroad and the vehicle would sway from side to side making the same very hard to steer, It is "readily seen that the'present invention has-inany advantages-which are not .present in the conventional construction just'described.

If the springl3'was mounted on the frame 14in the manner shown in Figure 2 and if the lever 21 were omitted and the drag link 22secured directly to;the steering lever 1'9-;:as in'the other conventional constructionrmany disadvantages would result. The arcs of movement of the axle and drag link Wouldibe in the same general direction but the-earcgof movement: of the "drag'link 22 would have a greater radius than the .arc of movement of the axle l'Owvith the result th-at'thevehicle -would 'beinadvertently steered. to the left because the time the-axle ,10 had moved to thepoinfiY the distance'between the-arcs .ofmovement. at thispoint would; be very appreciable. V I I From the foregoing description theaadvan- ,-tages of the present invention arereadilywapparent-as it can be seen that it isveryadvsan- Ztageousito-have :a motor vehicle provided with means such thatinadvertent steering-.of'the same will not be produced by irregularities: in

:the road over which it travels. Hazards-jot jdrivingrare thereforexeliminated. f

It is to .beunderstood, however,-:thatlformal changes may-bemade-in the specific embodiment-0f the invention described without .de-

parting from the spirit'and SllbStfll1C610f,th broad invention, thesscope of which is'com mensurate with the appended claims. 7

WVhat' jLclaim is: 1 The combination .with the frame and front axlepf a motor vehicle, of springs asetal plane of said pivotally'mounted ends of said springs whereby the arc of movement of said drag link is in the 'same generaldirection as and is of lesser radius than-the are of movement ofsaid axle, and means rearwardly .icured on said axle and pivotally mounted at 7 of said lever for moving the same to steer tudinal axis of said axle, a lever pivoted on said frame forwardly of the rear ends of said springs, a drag link pivoted at one end to the free end of said steering arm and pivoted at its other end to said lever substantially in the horizontal plane of said pivotally mounted ends of said springs, a lever pivoted on said frame rearvvardly of the rear ends of sa1d springs, a llIlk connecting sa1d first and second named levers, and means for rocking said second lever to cause longitudinal movement of sa1d link and cause sa1d drag llnk to move 1n the same general direction as'the plvoted end of said springs but having a lesser radius than the are of movement of said axle.

Signed by me at South Bend, Indiana, this 14th day of March, 1928. I

. KARL M. WISE. 

